America Eats! was one of the many WPA projects created to put people to work during the Great Depression era. In brief, the idea was to go out and document not just Americans' foods, but also the social gatherings, cultural mores, and events that defined American food. The project was broken down into regional segments, and writers were assigned to write up the various parts. Some of these writers went on to become famous; others just went back to their regular jobs when the project was shut down (Congress refused to continue its funding, thus cutting it off. Imagine if Congress had actually funded it and allowed it to be completed, the national treasure we would have now). Some fragments of the manuscript survive in the Library of Congress; many are likely still locked up in local and state archives, many even undiscovered.

The author found parts of the document, and along with those parts, set out to see if she could find many of these places and food gatherings. From chuck wagon meals to funeral meals to fish fries, she spent a year on the road to see what real American homemade cooking was, and more importantly, the social events and gatherings that were the main reason for the meals. Whether it was a fundraiser or a lodge social event, what she found was a diverse culinary experience of people coming together. And sadly, it is an experience that may be facing extinction in our modern times.

The book alternates between the author's narrative and fragments from the WPA writings, making for a very interesting picture of the United States from coast to coast. The WPA writings include customs, descriptions of events, and some recipes. In some cases, the author included recipes that are close to an original in order to give readers a sense of the real thing. The book does have some amusing moments, but it also has some moving moments along with some serious commentary on contemporary American society along the way. Personally, I cannot help but wonder what would happen if, by some great miracle, a new national works project was formed, and a new generation of writers went out to document the American food gathering experience today? What, if anything, would they find?

The book does have some small passages that go a bit too long, slowing down the reading experience. It is the only reason I gave it four stars. However, this is a book worth reading. It is a book you may want to read in small bits, savor parts of it even. And it is a book that may make you want to go out and find a local church supper, or a fish fry, or maybe, just maybe, a pie social. ( )

Within the last year (2009), I have become intrigued by the America Eats! project, which was intended to document America’s regional cuisines before they disappeared. This WPA project, which was also designed to help professional and would-be writers, as well as artists who contributed photographs, was aborted before completion because of World War II. Most of the reams of material ended up in the Library of Congress, while other pieces were either scattered or lost.

Pat Willard’s book, also entitled America Eats!, first published by Bloomsbury in 2008, is being reissued in paperback form in late summer or early fall 2009. Ms. Willard became interested in the topic after visiting the manuscript rooms at the Library of Congress. Unlike the author of another recent book based on the same project, Ms. Willard felt compelled to travel around the United States to discover what remains of the regional cuisines and community gatherings mentioned in the original material. The result is a work that juxtaposes that material with her own observations, plus recipes from the original work (sometimes annotated) and the author’s own recipes.

The original intent of the project was not to produce a cookbook, and Ms. Willard has adhered to that intent. She has also succeeded in capturing the essence of the original work in her wanderings. It was encouraging to see that many events continue to this day, even though most of them have evolved in the interim. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the evolution of American cookery and the regional cuisines and food-related events that have continued into the 21st century.

For all my excitement about getting this book, and there was a lot, I simply could never get myself all the way through it as evidenced by my VERY late review. Try as I might I couldn't do it. It may be in part that the book seemed to have no continuity of style like someone unable to maintain the pitch in a song. ( )

Obviously, as my review is so late, I had a hard time reading this book. To be honest, I’m still not all the way through it. Which I find surprising for me, since I can usually read a book in under a day.

During the Great Depression, the WPA – Works Progress Administration – decided to start a project called the Federal Writers’ Project. They would employ out-of-work writers to write about the histories of local communities, state travelogues and oral histories of American workers. Another area was to find out how America ate. That part of the project was to be called America Eats! What I find strange was that the writers were emphatically told not to include recipes!! What? Luckily, when Pat Willard decides to go back in time as it were and to follow some of the articles she found archived, she does include some recipes. As a cookbook collector, I think more recipes should have been included along with the stories. Those are the best cookbooks – the ones that you can also read. The ones that give a little bit of history along with the recipe. How did this recipe get it's name? What area of the country (world) did it come from? What memories are associated with it?
I did like how the author went to the same areas as the articles that she had found and tried to find similar traditions in todays world.
However, since I haven't finished the book, apparently, I'm not as into food history as I thought I was. I do still want to finish reading it, though. And it will have a place on my shelves. ( )

An interesting and pleasurable journey into a curious pocket of American history. A recovery of these food traditions would be more than welcome in the age of fast food. Recommended for gastronomes or history buffs.